Dirac's gamma matrices

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pallab
what are Dirac's gamma matrices
. especially ,
does it have many forms?

Mentor
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Demystifier, pallab and Michael Price
Gold Member
what are Dirac's gamma matrices
. especially ,
does it have many forms?

There are some different ways to define them. The Dirac equation, in which a matrix with differential operators as its entries is acting on the spinor field, looks a bit different depending on the representation (assuming you write it explicitly in matrix-spinor form).

Michael Price
Good link. Of the choices, I find the Weyl or chiral basis the best one to use..

Mentor
Of the choices, I find the Weyl or chiral basis the best one to use..

Generally speaking, the Weyl basis (in which ##\gamma^5## is diagonal) is most useful for studying relativistic particles, such as in high energy physics experiments, while the Dirac basis (in which ##\gamma^0## is diagonal) is most useful for studying non-relativistic particles. (Here "relativistic" and "non-relativistic" is relative to the lab frame in which the measuring equipment is assumed to be at rest.)

vanhees71 and Michael Price